TOKYO: Japanese retail sales rose 12.0% in April from a year earlier, government data showed on Monday. Separate data on Monday showed retail sales, a key gauge of consumer spending, surged in April, thanks largely to favourable statistical base effects from a year earlier, when the country was under an even stricter coronavirus curbs. Factory output had posted a surprise increase in March, as a jump in car production helped keep the economic recovery on track. In April, retail sales soared 12.0% compared with the same month earlier, the government said on Monday, mainly due to statistical base effects. Compared to the previous month, retail sales shed 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis, as consumer sentiment struggled with the most recent measures to stem a halt in coronavirus infections.

Source: The Star May 31, 2021 00:15 UTC